Canada's war on counterfeiting

Grant Robertson explains how counterfeiting led to a major overhaul of the country's paper currency, and their decision to switch paper bills with polymer notes, like those found in Australia:

As Canada’s polymer money is introduced over the next two years, paper banknotes will be rounded up and removed from circulation in the largest scrubbing of Canada’s system of paper currency. Old paper notes that find their way to banks will be sent off to the Bank of Canada to be burned. Polymer bills will then be released.

The Bank of Canada issues between 300 million and 400 million new notes a year, replacing torn, taped, defaced and crumpled bills with crisp replacements as needed. At that rate, it would take four to five years to replenish the entire supply of notes. But the central bank will be attempting to replace paper money in the span of about three years, swapping out the cash much faster than usual.

See, too, the story's infographic on the process used to create polymer money. Speaking of currency, you might also be interested in Wired magazine's recent article on the rise and fall of Bitcoin.